an orphan

An orphanage is not visible on her face to know her inner plight.

I was with some of my colleagues chatting over a cup of tea in the shop. It was silent except for few customer at the other end engrossed in their chat as well. Abruptly, I heard a child wail that created a slight commotion outside . 

Tempted, craned my neck toward the window and observed what was happening. A small girl was being reprimanded by a woman whom I suppose was her mom. The woman seems to have lost all her nerves and she was looking fearsome. She smacked the girl two or three times on her back and the girl started to sob. Head drooped low,she wiped her tears with the end of her sleeves.The woman commanded her to go to house at once. Submissively she left the spot.

I have seen the kid few times around,sometimes playing with friends and other ocassion playing with the dogs. Although,something about her look did evoke some instinct within me . Perhaps a sense of curiosity or otherwise i being judgemental that I cannot really conclude. 

She has a small eyes. Although my eyes are also no bigger but her seems to be unusually smaller. I heard people calling her with nickname,"Musa" which translates to rat .Her skin is dark and she has hair cut short in a distinct mushroom style ,which were just above her eyelids. Her height is small. 

Well,that incident outside the canteen actually landed us talking about her. What I heard from the shopkeeper actually sank my stomach. I came to know that the woman who was venting her wrath the moment ago was not her mom. She was just her relative.

In a tragic event she lost both her parent's . Father passed away due to an electrocution while doing power maintenance work. Shortly after ,her mom also kicked the bucket due to some ailment. It's is assumed to be associated with alcohol as both her parent's were a heavy drinker. She is supposed to have a brother but hadn't seen even once. People believe that her moms drinking habit and their dishevelled environment has affected her health. They even suspect that she was born premature but it's just a mere speculation.

So , the little dark skinny kid whom people redicule her with nickname 'Musa' is actually an orphan which rather sounds offensive but certainly I lack words to euphemise it.

Atleast if an orphanage is tangible in eyes and skin colour,we would not have to listen to the stories to understand the plight of an orphan. Perhaps I was preconceived that an orphan child is one who will be after cows playing his flute all day long or the one who extensively play chuckstone with pebbles all day long. For now she looks merry and playful,mingling with other kids, virtually ignorant/innocent about the absence of her parent's. But few years down the line ,I can feel how it would pang her hearts to be called Musa or she would get matured enough to feel the deep void left by her lovely parent's. Perhaps she would have miss them no matter how alcoholic they might have been.